Salesforce hires Arundhati Bhattacharya as India Chairman, CEO

“India is an important growth market for Salesforce and a world-class innovation and talent hub and Arundhati’s leadership will guide our next phase of growth, customer success and investment in the region,” said Gavin Patterson, President and CEO, Salesforce International.

Now, YONO, the digital banking platform of SBI has over 20 million customers, emerging as the largest consumer platform outside of the ecommerce companies in India.

Salesforce has hired former State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya to head its India operations as the software company becomes aggressive in the country, a market that is increasingly adopting digital technologies to serve customers.

Bhattacharya will take over as the Chairman and CEO of Salesforce India on April 20 and report to Ulrik Nehammer, General Manager APAC.

“India is an important growth market for Salesforce and a world-class innovation and talent hub and Arundhati’s leadership will guide our next phase of growth, customer success and investment in the region,” said Gavin Patterson, President and CEO, Salesforce International.

Bhattacharya, 63, led India’s largest public sector bank during a crucial four year period when other public sector banks were facing challenges with loans. She also stepped up investments in technology, hiring a chief technology officer from global rival Barclays, to prepare SBI to compete with smaller and nimble tech focused banks and fintech firms.

Now, YONO, the digital banking platform of SBI has over 20 million customers, emerging as the largest consumer platform outside of the ecommerce companies in India.

Bhattacharya’s career shift to lead a technology firm comes at a time when companies globally are looking at India as not just a talent base but also a growing market. She also joins a growing number of women leaders in India for multinational companies. Bhattacharya is also an independent director on the board of Wipro.

India’s cloud application services market, the segment that Salesforce operates, is expected to grow by 21% to over $1.4 billion in 2020, according to a November report by technology researcher Gartner. This segment where customers rent software as they use accounts for over 40% of India’s cloud market.

Salesforce has been in India for many years. In 2016, the company opened a Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad and expects to add 3,000 jobs across the region over the next three years, making India a leading global talent and innovation hub for the company. Its Indian customers include CEAT, redBus, and Franklin Templeton

“Salesforce is a company with an impressive track record in supporting the digital transformation of its customers with world class technology and there is an incredible opportunity for future growth in India,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya.

Salesforce and its ecosystem of customers and partners in India is expected to create over $67 billion in business revenues and 548,400 new direct jobs by 2024, according to research by IDC . Over one million developers in India are trained on Salesforce technology through its online learning platform Trailhead, its largest user base outside the US.